Bottle capper



April 8, 1930. H. G. RICE 1,754,000

BOTTLE CAPPER Filed Feb. 1, 1928 1700622101? la/rald GJQ ac e.

Patented Apr. 8, 1930 eararvr @Fihiflh'.

JH'AROLD RICE, OF @HECA GO, ILLINOIS Borrrin Carissa Application filed February 1, 19%. Serial No. 251,074.

.My invention relatesto bottle cappers and moreespecially to novel means for limiting the upward movement of the operating handle or lever after the lever is depressed by 5 hand to apply a-cap to abottle and then released; and "for decking therider and capper head in adjusted positionto suit bottles of certain heights until it is desired to change the adjustment .lfor bottlesof different sizes or height and also to prevent'the lever from swi'ngingup to a vertical position when released fromithe capping position in such a manner to "disengage the segment from the rack bar or release the same from operative engagement witlrthe frameythus preventing the accidental displacement ofthe rider from its adjusted position and the droppingthereof on the trance.

"the device is associated with a bottle cap perot the typecoveredby my prior Reissue Patent NOIESQQZ of November 8, 192l, and the structure shown in my Patent No. 1,6?83303 of M1 124, 1928; embodies a further improvement in the means shown in the lattcr patent r'or raising the operating lever to an elevated position after the lever is depressed a s-by hand to apply acap-to a bottle and then released, andfor normally retaining the lever-in a raised position so that the same is in an operative raised and convenient 130' sition'l or use'in-applying caps with the advantages above pointed out.

Aside fronrtheimprovements in'the construction of therider and the raising means, shown'in theabove referred to'patent No. 1,678,303dor automatically raising the handle whenthe operating handle is depressed to apply acap toahottie and then released to raise the same, which, however, was not shown in my prior reissue patent, the invention consists in the novel locking device "for the rider and capping head associated with the wraisingi means and f lever, said lock being adapted to heldtthe rider and capping head at a desired heightregardless of how fast the device is operated orhow ronghlyitiis handled. It also may heinstantly set and willstay set without jarring loose during the operation i of the capper but'permit an adjustment.otkthe cap- 4, adapted ping head for shorter or higher bottles in an instant.

"lhe'device also possesses all of the other advantages referred to in my prior Patent No. 1 ,678,308 above notedand the invention consists of the combination of the locking device therewith.

With the above and other objectsin View, the invention consists in'certain novel comhinations and arrangement of parts, the relations oi whic lrwill he morethoroughly established in the following description particularly emphasizing and pointing out thesame.

ln the accompanying drawings 2 Fig. l is a sideelevation of a bottlecapper equipped with the novellocking device.

' 2 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional elevation taken on the section line 2+2 of Figure 1 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional elevation showing the manner Off releasing the'lec'lring device for freely sliding the rider and capper head to secure an adjustment for bottles of diderent heights, and

Ei 4 is a iira inentar vertical; sectional o to y view taken on the section lined- 4 of Fig};- ure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a hot-- tle: capper of thetype showniini mypriorpatents ahove reterred tois illustrated. It con.- sists of a {T311161 including. a baseor hase plate toxheanchored to awork bench or table having sides'5 bent upwardly there from. Theiiranre proper'is o-t bowedformationand has sides 6 anchored at tneirjlower ends tolthe sidesa ofthe haseiand: preferably offset outwardly for this purpose rhut left flat as'indicated at 7. 'lheportionsti are pretiferabiy pressed in concavorconvexcross section with the convex walls outwardly and their upper portions brought together and connected. at suitable points, as 1 by means of rivets 8. The upper portions 1 are straight and flatiand rectilinearpand provided at their coacting e cs Wi'thlitCkFtQGth "forming opera 've men s for engagementwith the inner end of the operating lever usually in the form ot a segmentaswill be later described and taking ther'forin of a; rack bar 9.

dlidahly; mountedon the rack 7 bar constituted by the upper portion of the frame is a rider or slide preferably in the form of'a relatively flat rectangular sleeve and fashioned from a single plate formed into a rear wall and sides having extensions 11 suitably spaced apart as by a notch 12 in the lower edge of one extension defining an inner wing prolonged transversely of the rider into engagement with the other extension, and the second extension having a notch at its upper edge, while the'sides are provided at their forward edges and at their upper ends with inturned lugs 18 having their free ends abutting intermediately of the width of the thickaess of the rider above the extensions. The space defined by the rear wall, the sides, and the inner wing of the rider accommodates the rack bar so that the rider may move up and down thereon. I

A lever 14 is pivoted at 15 so as to fulcrum the same between the extensions 11 and as shown, the handle prefera ly has its outer or capping portion shaped from a bent piece of metal to fit the contour of the hand in grasping the same. An inner portion 16 comprising a pair of plates riveted between the sides of the portion 14 as indicated at 17 and their inner edges formed with co-acting teeth pro viding a segment 18 meshing with the rack 9. The inner rivet 17 has its head projecting to form a shoulder 19 facing toward the rack bar for a purpose to be hereinafter pointed out. The capping head 20 is carried by the extensions 11, being preferably riveted to reduced downward extensions thereof extended through slots in the end or top wall of the head, as indicated at 21. This capping head is designed to receive a rubber washer or cushion ring 21 to give. resiliency to the capping operation, and the top of the capping head serves to limit the downward swing of the lever 14 when depressed by engagement with the shank thereof.

The pivot 15 is'in the form of a double headed rivet and the extension 11 on one side is depressed on both sides around the rivet heads so as to fix the rivet in a mounting for a dog, which may be in the form of an angular cross arm or bell crank lever 22, the heads setting in the depressions and the pivot 15 forming a fulcrum on the extensions 11. The dog or arm is located outwardly of one extension 11 and retained in position by the enlarged headed end of the pivot 15 at that side. The forwardly extending arm of the dog has an angular portion 23 provided with a notch in its upper edge to form a hook extending outwardly for connection of one end of a contractile coil spring 24 thereto, the opposite or lower end of the spring being anchored to the rider 10 adjacent to its bottom edge as by hooking the spring through an apertured ear or lug 25 stamped or pressed and bent outwardly from the bottom edge of said side or extension 11 of the ride as clearly indicated in Figures 1 and 4. The same arm of the dog has a lateral inward projection or lug 26 which is designed to engage in back of the rider above and on top of the same extension 11 to limit the pivotal movement of the cross arm or dog under the tension of the spring 24 and the free end of the rearwardly extending arm has a lateral inward projection or lug 27 at its bottom edge which is designed to engage beneath the shank of the handle or lever 14:, whereby the lever is held in a raised position under the action of the spring limited by the extension 26, as indicated in Figure 1.

The cross arm or dog is provided intermediately above the pivot 15 with an inwardly offset and upwardly extending notched ear 28 against the inner face of which is pivoted as at 29, a locking member or pawl 30 which has its free end recessed at the bottom as indicated at 31 to provide an extending finger at the top to engage-the shoulder 19 and over the rivet 17 when the handle is in a raised position slightly inclined upwardly but sub stantially horizontally, as shown. This engagement is maintained with sufficient friction to keep the pawl in its engaged position but to limit the upward movement of the lever when the rider is once adjusted on the rack bar so as to prevent the handle from continuing in its upward movement when released from the capping position after being depressed, or from flying up to a vertical position and disengaging the segment from the rack bar, thereby preventing the rider from accidentally sliding downward on the rack bar or frame when once adjusted to a position to accommodate bottles of a certain height. This device constitutes a lock for the rider and capping head which holds the head at the desired height regardless of how fast the device is operated or how rough it is handled. The lock is set by a push of the thumb to engage its recessed end with the shoulder of the inner rivet 17 and stays set in such a manner that no amount of jarring can loosen it. However, it may be readily displaced from the shoulder of the rivet head and raised to the dotted line position shown in Figure 1 so that the handle may be swung upwardly for disengaging the segment from the rack bar as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3, whereby the device may be adjusted for accommodating shorter or higher bottles. This may be done in an instant so that the capping head will properly apply the caps.

Of course, it will be understood that in the use of the device the lever will be normally held in raised position slightly inclined above the horizontal, as shown in Figure 1 when the 5:;

rider and capping head will be raised therewith, so that the capping head will clear the bottle, whereby the bottles may be conveniently placed in position therebeneath, the

caps applied, and the bottles removed with- .1

orhigher bottles.

meaoooout interference orobstruction by the capping head orthe handle swinging down as in devices not provided with the raising means. Obviously, this arrangement obviates the necessity of raising the lever by hand after a cap "is applied to a bottle and leaves both hands ofl-the'operator free for other service. When a cap is being applied, the bottle is mounted onthe base 1, so that the neck of the bottle will be beneath the capping head, a cap. having been previously placed thereon. The operator then presses down on the lever lt and applies the cap to the bottle, owing tothe downward movement of the rider by rocking of the segment 18 on the rack 9. During the downward movement of the lever the shank thereof engages the extension or lug 27 and rocks the cross arm or dog 22 on the pivot 15 or with said pivot, if desired, in

the extensions 11 owing to the factthat the pivot 15 is common to the fulcrum of the lever and raises the forward arm to stretch or extend the spring 24 against its tension and at the same time moving the extension 26 away from thetop of the extension of the rider.

Upon releasing the pressure from. the lever 14, the spring 24 will react and cause the extensionq27 to engage the lever and raise it to an operative position slightly above horizontal, which movement will swing the rack attheinnerendof the lever down and raise the rider until the extension 26 contacts with the rider at the top edge of one extension 1 11 but will not cause the lever to be swung to its upward limit or to a vertical position which would result inaccidenta-l disengagement ofthe segmentfrom the raclr bar and the sliding ofthe rider out of its adjusted position. However, this movement is permitted provided the lever is manually raised but not when the pawl or looking member 30 isin GBQELgGClPOSltlOIL as shownin solid lines in Figure 1. This movement is only permit fed when the locking member or pawl is dis-- engaged from theshoulder 19 and the handle may then be swungto the dotted line positionsshown in Figures- 1 and 3 so as to permit quick adjustment of the rider for shorter In the position in which the extension 26 contacts with'the "id-er, the capping head willbe elevated automatically andremoved r raised away from and above the bottle, thus obviating the possibility of the leverdropping down and obstructingthe work by interfering with the free insertion. of the bottlesor caps and requiring manual elevation thereof.

By reason of the cross arm 22 being limited in its movement on the pivot 15 of the lever 1a to a horizontal position, the lever 14 will be supported in a horizontal position for convenient'use. It will also be apparent hat thelever 14; may be swung upwardly to a substantially vertical position from the substantially horizontalflposition "which it is supported :by the cross arm spring, to disengagethe teeth of the segment 18 from the teeth of the rack bar 9-to permit free sliding movement of the rider '10 over the teeth of the rack bar of the frame, whereby quick initial adjustment of the rider and'capping head to bottles of different sizes, may be obtained. It is, of course,tobe understood that the upward swing of the lever 14 is inde pendent'of the crossarm 22 away from the supporting lug or extension 27 while the cross arm is held against movement under the tension of the spring 24 by engagement of the lug or extension 26 with the rider 10.

lVhile-I haveshown anddescribed my in,- vention "in a preferred form, I am" aware that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of my invention, thescope of which is to be determined by the'appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A bottle capper comprising a frame, a-rider slidable onthe frame,axlever pivoted on the rider and engaging the frame to reciprocate the rider, a capping head'carried by the rider, means for resiliently urging said lever toward a raised position and means to positively limit theupward. movement ofthe lever below a substantially vertical :position.

2. A. bottle capper comprising a frame, a rider slidable on the frame, BwlGQVGI pivoted on the rider andengaging theframe to reciprocate the rider,acapping head carried by the rider, means-to normally'raise the 'lever to a substantially horizontalposition, and

means to limit theupward movement of'the lever above said horizontal position.

H 8. A bottle capper comprisingia frame, a rider sli'clable'on the frame, a lever pivoted on the rider and engaging theframeto reciprocatethe rider, a capping head carried by the rider, means co-acting between the rider and the lever to raise the lever and rider infposition to receive the bottlesb'eneath the capping" head andwiththezleve'r in po sition slightly above horizontalyand means co acting between. the rider and lever-toplevent further upward movement of 'the lever but adapted tobe released'whereby said rider may have free sliding movement on the frame for adj nstment'to bottles of different heights.

4;. A bottle capper'comprisingn frame, a rider slidable'on'the frame, a lever pivoted on the rider and engaging the frame to-reeiprocate the rider, a capping head carried by the rider, a member'pivoted to the riderand having operative connection with the lever, means between saidm'ember 'and the rider to actuate the member and hold the lever and capping head out of capping position but free'to move fnrtherupwardly, and means to limit the further upward movement of*the lever relative to said member.

5. A bottle capper comprising a'frame, a

rider slidable on the frame, a lever pivoted on the rider and engaging the frame to reciprocate the rider, a-capping head carried by the rider, means to partially raise the lever, and means movably mounted on the rider and engaging the lever to positively prevent further upward movement of the lever but adapted to be disengaged therefrom. whereby the lever may be swung upwardly further out of engagement with the frame.

6. A bottlecapper comprising a frame, a rider slidable on the frame, a lever pivoted n the rider and operatively connected to the frame to reciprocate the rider, a capping head carried by the rider, and means mounted on the rider and engaging the lever to limit the upward movement of the lever, said means being mounted to be raised whereby the lever may be swung to a vertical position, whereby the rider may be freely slid on the frame to an adjusted vertical position.

7. A bottle capper comprising a frame, a rider slidable on the frame, a lever pivoted on the rider and engaging the frame to reciprocate the rider, a capping head carried by the rider, an arm pivoted to the rider and engaged with the lever, spring means normally raising the arm and lever and against the tension of which the lever and capping head 9 are moved to capping position, anda member pivoted on the arm and adapted to engage the lever to prevent movement thereof above its raised operative position, thereby preventing accidental sliding of the rider on the frame.

8. In a bottle capper, a frame having a rack, a rider slidable thereon, a lever pivoted to the rider and having a rack segment meshing with the rack to raise and lower the rider, a spring connection between the rider and lever to raise the lever and rider and including means connected to the spring and movably connected to the rider as well as movably engaging the lever, whereby said lever is adapted to be elevated above the position in which normally supported by the spring connection to disengage the segment from the rack and permit quick adjustment of the rider on the rack bar, and means to limit the upward movement of the lever above the position in which normally supported by the spring connection.

9. In a bottle capper, a frame having a rack, a rider slidable thereon, a lever pivoted to the rider and having a rack segment meshing with the rack to raise and lower the rider, a spring connection between the rider and lever to raise the lever and rider and including means connected to the spring and movably connected to the rider as well as movably engaging the lever, whereby said lever is adapted to be elevated above the position in which normally supported by the spring connection to disengage the segment from the rack and permit quick adjustment of the rider on the rack bar, a shoulder on the lever, and

adapted to operatively engage the lever,

spring means between the member and the rider to hold the lever elevated while maintaining operative connection between the segment and the rack, and means carried by said member to engage the lever to limit the upward movement thereof.

11. The combination with a bottle capper having a base, and a frame having a rack, a rider slidable over the rack, a lever pivoted on the rider and having a segment meshing with the rack, a capping head carried by the rider, a member pivoted to the rider and adapted to operatively engage the lever, spring means between the member and the rider to hold the lever elevated while maintaining operative connection between the seg ment and the rack, and means carried by said member to engage the lever to limit the further upward movement thereof and hold the member and lever rigid with each other, said means adapted to be disengaged from the lever whereby the lever may be moved further upward to permit quick sliding movement of the rider on the frame over the rack.

12. In a bottle capper, a frame, a rider slidable thereon, a lever pivoted to the rider and having operative engagement with the frame to raise and lower the rider, a spring connection between the rider and lever to raise the lever and rider, and including means connected to the spring and movably connected to the rider and lever whereby said lever may be elevated above the position in which normally supported by the spring connection to disengage the lever from the frame and permit quick adjustment of the rider on the frame, and a member between the last-named means and the lever to hold the lever thereagainst and rigid therewith to prevent upward movement of the lever independently thereof but adapted to be disengaged, whereby the lever may be swung upwardly free thereof.

13. In combination with a bottle capper having a base and a frame having a rack, a rider slidable on the rack, a lever pivoted on the rider and having a segment meshing with the rack, a capping head carried by the rider, an arm pivoted to the rider and engaged with the lever, and spring means normally turning the arm into engagement with the lever to lower the inner or segment end and raise the free or handle end thereof and against the tension of which the lever and capping head are moved to capping position, said arm having an upwardly extending ear, a pawl pivoted to the ear and having a recess at its free end, and a shoulder on the lever for engagement by the recessed end of the pawl to check the upward movement of the lever when the capping head is out of capping position.

14. In a bottle capper, a base, a frame on the base having an upright, said upright having notches, a rider slidable on the frame over the notches and having a capping head, a lever pivoted on the rider and having means to engage with the notches for moving the rider upon actuation of the lever, a shoulder on the lever at one side, spring means to raise the lever to a point slightly above the horizontal position and also the rider and capping head out of capping position, said lever adapted to be raised further free of said spring means to disengage the first-named means from the notches, and a locking member carried by the rider and engaging the shoulder to prevent further upward movement of the lever and the rider when adjusted to a fixed position but adapted to be disengaged from the shoulder to permit fur-- ther upward movement of the lever and disengagement from the notches for adjusting the rider on the upright of the frame to suit bottles of diiferent heights.

15. A bottle capper including a frame, a rider slidable on the frame, a lever pivoted on the rider and having operative connection with the frame to reciprocate the rider by oscillation of the lever, a capping head carried by the rider, spring means between the lever and rider to normally raise and support the lever in a substantially horizontal osition, means to limit the movement of said spring means to said position, said lever resting on said spring means and being free to swing upwardly from its supported position free thereof, and means to prevent further upward movement of the lever above said position in which it is normally supported.

HAROLD G. RICE. v 

